Short-pick extractor for looms



Sept. s. 1925. 1,553,070

, E. A. (TUNNIFF' SHORT PICK EXTRACTOR FOR LOOMS Filed July 18. 1922 5 h et -Sheet 1 or'nega wz'tnesan v Sept. 8, 1925.

E. A. CUNNIFF SHORT PICK EXTRACTOR FOR LOOMS Filed July 18, 1922 5 Sfieets-Sheet 2 Inventor- Sept. 8, 1925.

- 1553,070 E. A. CUNNIFF M 1 i Q Inventor:

.Sept. 8,1925.

. E. A. CUNNIFF SHORT PICK EXTRACTOR FOR LOOMS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4. V

I Filed July 18, 1922 Sept. 8, 1925. 1,553,070

E. A. CUNNIFF SHORT PICK-EXTRACTOR FOR LOOMS Filed July is, 1922 V .5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I jnveniorq Wz'ness: I

@aA {1% y witbrne g in which latter,

Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

UNITED; STATES PATENT'HOFFICE.

EDWARD A. CUILTNIFF, OF NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ERVING Y. WOOLLEY, AS TRUSTEE, OF NENTON CENTER, MASSACHUSETTS. 1 I

SHORT-PICK EILTRACTOR FOR LOOIVI S.

Application filed July 18, 1922. Serial No. 575,775.

. To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. CUNNIFF, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Bedford, in the county ofBristol, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Short-Pick Extractors for Looms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention provides means of novel character and mode of operation foroperating upon a short pick of weft or filling left in a shed in the warpthreads, in case of breakage or exhaustion ofthe weft or filling in the flight of the shuttle from one side of the loom to the other. A pick of this description is objected to in the case of woven cloths of various classes, by reason of the resulting defect in the weave of such cloths, the injury to the appearance of the cloths, and for other reasons.

The invention includes an automatic device whereby a short pick is moved rearward away from the fell of the cloth being woven toward the more open portion of a shed in the warp-threads, and an automatic device for engaging such pick and drawing it out from the warp-threads. Also various special features in connection and combination with the said elements, all as set forth in the claims at the close of this specification.

An illustrative embodiment of thefeatures of the invention is shown in the drawings,

Fig. 1 shows in front elevation the said embodiment applied in connection with certain loom parts. I f

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, partly broken away, certain parts being represented in section.

Fig. 3 is a view looking outward from the right-hand side in Fig. 1, with certain of the parts of Fig. 1 in vertical section on line 3, 5, Fig. 1, and with certain of the parts of an automatic weft-replenishing organization added.

Fig. 4: is aview corresponding in the main with Fig. .3 but with the lay not so far back as in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section in the plane indicated by line 5, '5, in Fig. 2.

At 1 is the pick-engaging part of the device by which in the case of the said illustrative embodiment of the invention a short pick 2, Fig. 4:, of weft or filling is moved rearward as in Fig. 4c, away from the fell 3 of the cloth 4 being woven, among the unwoven warp-threads 5, 5. The said pick-engaging part is formed suitably to engage with the short pick as it liesat'the fell after having been beaten up by the reed 6 carried by the lay, in the advance of'the lay (only the lay-beam 7 and lay-cap 8-being shown), and to brush or comb the short pick rearward as in Fig. 4. In the present instance it is a brush. A comb of suitable character would be an equivalent of a brush. Accordingly it is to be understood that by the references to a brush and to brushing, made hereinafter, both a comb and a combing action are meant to be included. Other pickengaging means may "be employed in practice, V

' The device for engaging with the short pick after the latter has been moved rearward is designated 9 in its entirety. Its acting portion is provided with a hook 911, Figs. 3 and 4:, which is arranged and actuated to enter vertically between adjacent warp-threads (in 1 this instance both the brush and the extractor descend, from above), then engage with the rearwardlypositioned short pick 2 as in Fig. 41, and then withdraw vertically from among the warp-threads (in this instance upwardly), drawing the short pick upwardlyfrom the wap-threads as indicated at 2 in Figs. 1 an 3. r

'moved rearward away from the fell, and the extractor device, are mounted conveniently to provide for the performance of their functions, and combined with suitable actuating connections to secure such performance. In this instance, both of the devices referred to are carried by the lay, and ac company the lay in its movements forward and rearward. Theforward movement with the lay carries the brush forward of-the fell, so as to enable it to act, upon a short pick at the fell in the rearward stroke of the lay, and the rearward movement with the lay'enables the brush to move such pick rearward; while the rearward movement with the lay carries the extractor device rearward into an advantageous position for engaging with the short pick after the latter has been moved rearward. The movement of the lay also is utilized to. occasion and control the vertical movements of the brush and extractor.

The brush of the illustrated embodiment of the invention is attached to a carrier 11 in the form of an arm that is hung to the lay-cap 8 with capacity to swing in a vertical plane. In this instance the arm is constituted of a length of wire doubled upon itself so as to produce, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, parallel side-portions extending upwardly from the point of attachment of the brush to their bend or bight, the free extremities of the said side-portions being turned oppositely to constitute journals 111, 111, Figs. 1 and 2, and the said journals occupying bearings in side-flanges of a small stand 112 attached to the lower portion of the front of the lay-cap. A spiral spring or pair of springs 113 having the coils thereof fitted upon the said journals, engaging with the said side-flanges and intermediately with the brush-supporting arm 11, acts with a tendency to depress the brush toward the cloth and warp-threads. Normally the brush is held in the elevated normal position shown in Figs 1 and 3 by means of a downwardly extending arm 114: that is fixed upon a supporting rockshaft 12 which is mounted in bearings in connection with stands 13, 13, attached to the top of laycap 8.. This arm projects through between the side portions of the brush-carrier, as shown, and. has a transverse pin 115 below the brush-carrier, adapted to engage with the brush-carrier from below, when the arm 11%. is moved upward, and to raise the brushcarrierand brush. The extractor-device 9 is: supported by a. second, arm, 91, projecting fromv the sup-portin and actuating rockshaft 12'. Through rocking of this rockshaft initssaiidbearings the arms 11 i and. 91,. and extractor device, are swung up and down. Normally the carrier, said arms, extractor device, and brush, are held latched in their upraised' idle position shown in Fig. 3, through the engagement of a latch-lever 1 1 with a controlling arm 121 fixed upon rockshaft 12 as shown best in Fig. 1. The said latch-lever 14: is mounted by a pivot 1421, Fig; 1, upon the front of lay-cap 8 and is actuated by a contracting spiral spring 15 so as-to cause its engaging end to enter and remain in a notchl-22, Figs. 1 and 5, in said cont-rolling a-rm 1121. hen the latch-lever It is disenga ed from the controlling arm 121,. the rocks iaft 12 isv permitted to turn, and the'brush and extractor to descend from their idle. position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in. Fig. 4c.

The unbalanced. weight of the parts carried by the rockshaft 1'2: and located in front of the axis ofthe latter may berelied upon to cause the downward movementv of the arms 114 and 91, and extractor 9. However,

I prefer to employ a spring to aid in occasioning this movement, as for instance the coil-spring 16 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 sur rounding a portion of the length of the rockshaft 12, with one. end thereof engaged with a' stand 13 and the other with the hub of the controlling arm 121.

The latch-lever is disengaged from the controlling arm 121, to bring about movement of the brush or comb and extractor downward from their position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4e, by unlatching means rendered operative through detection of weft-failure. In. this instance 1 utilize an element of the automatic weft-replenishing instrumentalities that are in general use in looms, namely the shuttle-feeler 17. The said shuttle-feeler as usual is mounted by means of a pivot 171 upon the web of the magazine stand 20, To effect the unlatching the shuttle-feeler is furnished with a cam 18 projecting rearward therefrom. Normally, the shuttle-feelcr occupies the forward'ly located idle position in which it is shown in F igs. 3,4 and 5. While it occupies such position the cam 18 is out of the way of the latch-lever 1 1. lVhen, however, the weft detector devices of the loom detect weft failure they operate to call the weft-re plenishing instrumentalities into action. This operation of the weft-detector devices and weft-replenishing instrumentalitics causes the shuttle-.feeler to move partly rearward so that as the lay approaches front center on one heat the cam 18 is in the path of the lower arm of the latchrlever 14;; The engagement of the latch-lever with the cam serves to. tuim the latch-lever upon, its pivot 1461 carried by the lay cap, and disengage the latclrlever fromthe: controllingarm 121., permitting the rockshaft 12 to turn and thereby bringing about the movement of the brush and extractor vertically toward the cloth and warp-threads.

The unlatching takes place as the lay approaches front center. To prevent the rockshaft 12 from rocking at such time a controlling guide-strip 19 is provided for cooperating with the controlling, arm 121 of'the rockshaft. This guide-strip 19 is stationary. It is mounted in this instance uponthe baseportion of the vertical web of the bobbinmagazine stand 20, and extends rearward from its point of attaclnnent. This guide strip is located just below the path of the controlling arm 121 when the latter is latched in. the uplifted position shown in Fig. 3. When the unlatching; occurs, with the lay at or near front center, the controlling arm is prevented by thecontrolling strip from descending, and consequently the brush and extractor are upheld by means of the controlling strip 19 until the rearward movement of the lay carries the controlling arm 121 past the rear end of the said strip, as in Fig. 5. Thereupon the controlling arm 121, arms 114 and 91,-brush and extractor, move downward, so that the-brush comes to rest upon the cloth at or just in front of the fell, and the lower end of spreader 21 in connection with the extractor rests upon the cloth a little in advance of the brush. As the lay proceeds in its rearward stroke, the brush sweeps the short pick 2 rearward from the fell among the warp-threads, as in Fig. 4. The spreader 21 has a V-shaped pointed lower end, projecting below the hooked lower end of the extractor, and adapted in the descent of the two parts in unison to spread the warp-threads apart at opposite sides of the extractor, to facilitate the entrance of the hook among the warp-threads and the drawing upward of the 'short pick in the rising movement of the extractor, after the latter has engaged the short pick- In this instance, the extractor has ahooked member 92 that is pivoted at 93, Figs. 3 and 4, to the separator 21, and providedvwith a downward extension below the pivot having a hook 911. The hooked member of the extractor is provided also with a rearwardly projecting finger 94 which in the descent of the extractor encounters a stop or cam 24 by a short pick of weft that has been beaten projecting from the lay-cap 8. This encounter of the finger 94 with the said stop or cam 24 operates to swing the extractor-hook rearward away from the separator, so that as the separator passes down in front of the short pick the hook passes down, at the rear of the short pick. The final portion of the downward movement of the extractor carries the finger 94 past and clear of the stop or cam 24, and a contracting spiral spring 25, Figs. 3 and 4, extending from the separator 21 to the hooked member 92 draws the latter toward the separator, so that the point of the hook becomes housed in a recess in theback of the separator, with the short pick 2 trapped between the separator and hook. This action having occurred, and the short pick being engaged by the hook 911, the ex- The raising of the devices is occasioned by a rear controlling strip 251 which projects from the upright part '26 of the loom-arch at the side of the loom at which the devices are located. Promptly after the brush and extractor have moved down to engage the short pick the continued rearward movement of the lay carries the controlling arm against the front end of the rear controlling strip 251, so that the said controlling strip 251 operates to swing the controlling arm and rock the rockshaft so as to raise the brush and extractor. This action occurs in season to take the brush and extractor out of the path of the shuttle. as it is next picked a ross among the warp-threads.

the loom, and the latch-lever engages automatically with the upraised controlling arm to lock the parts in elevated idle positions.

hat is claimed as theinvention is 7 1. In a loom, in combination, a brush for pushing a short pick back from the fell, and a short pick extractor, both carried by the lay and caused by the movement of the lay to retract from the warp-threads, means for moved back from the fell as the lay recedes from the fell, and an automatically operating hook whereby such pick is drawn out from among the warp-threads.

of weft that has been beaten up is moved back from the fell asthe lay recedes from the latter and is drawn out from among the warp-threads. i i 4. In a loom, in combination,means whereup is moved ba k from the fell, and means for engaging such pick and drawing 1t out from 5. In a weft-replenishing loom, laymounted normally inoperative devices which are called into action through action of the weft-detecting mechanism of the 100m upon detection of weft-failure, to move rearward from the fell a short pick of weft that has been beaten up and draw it out from among the warp-threads.

6. In a weft-replenishing loom, devices called into action by an element of the. weftreplenishing mechanism, to move a short pick of weft rearward from the fell and draw it out from among the warp-threads.

7. In a loom, devices actuated by the movement of the lay to carry back from the fell a short pick that has been beaten up, and to draw such pick out from among the warp-threads.

8. In a loom, in combination, a short-pick brushing device carried by the lay, yieldingly-actuated to adapt it to pass vertically into the warp-threads, and actuated through the movement of the lay to withdraw from the warp-threads, means for latching it in withdrawn position, and unlatching means rendered operative through detection of weft-failure to permit said device to enter the warp-threads for action upon a short pick.

9. In a loom, in combination, a short pick extractor that is carried by the lay and caused by the movement of the lay to retract from am ng the warp-threads so as 3. In a loom, devices whereby a short pick to withdraw a short pick, means for latching it in retracted position, and unlatching means rendered operative through detection of weft-failure to bring about engagement of said extractor with a short pick.

10. In a loom, a normally inoperative short pick extractor which is automatically called into action by the weft-detecting mechanism of the loom upon detection of wett-tailure, to enter among the warpthreads, engage the short pick, and withdraw the same from the warp-threads.

11. In a loom, a lay-mounted normally. inoperative short pick extractor which is automatically called into action through action of the weft-detecting: mechanism of the loom upon detection of weft-failure.

12. In a weitt-repltnishingloom, a short pick extractor which is automatically called into action by an element of the weft-replenishing mechanism.

13. In a loom, a short pick extractor that is caused by the movement or" the lay to engage with a short pick and withdraw it from among the warp-threads 14. In a loom, a short pick extractor that is automatically caused to engage a short pick, and actuated by the movement of the lay to withdraw the same from among the warp-threads.

15. In a loom, in -combination, a shortpick brushing device, a short-pick extractor, and actuating and controlling means for said elements wherebyihey are actuated and controlled to brush a short pick rearward from the fell as the loom-lay moves rearward, and extract the short pick and withdraw from the warp-threads before the lay arrives at back center.

16. In a loom, in combination, a shortpick brushing device, a short-pick extractor, both carried by the loom-lay, fixed control-members whereby; said elements are fixed control-members cooperating with said carrier to control said extractor and brush ing device to act at a particular point, only, in the lay-movement, and withdraw them immediately thereafter to said idle position, and means for tripping the extractor and brushing device into action.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signa ture. l

EDWARD A. CUNNIFF. 

